Lost Cause
by 630leosa
Summary: 'We both know I'm not going to prison, at least not until they've taken me 'home' to try and talk me into seeing things their way again.' - Jason Todd P.O.V.
1. Lost Cause

_Disclaimer: You all know I don't own these people right? If I did I'd have a lot more money then I do now :p_

_This started off as a song-fic (Quite a few of Jason's lines are Lyrics/Altered Lyrics) But not long after the first verse I kinda hit a bit of writers block - that's why I haven't uploaded anything for a while. If I can find some inspiration I might continue this at some point._

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><p>And just like that I'm fighting my so-called my 'father'. Again.<p>

Every time we fight it only proves more an more that that piece of paper doesn't means anything anymore. I'm not his son anymore, and to be honest I couldn't care less.

"Stop this, Jason." His voice is a low grow, commanding me. Did that actually used to work on me? "Your better than this!"

"You think your _better _than me? Just 'cause I'm not gonna be a part of your game anymore."

"This isn't a game." He hisses and I know that that I've struck a nerve. "Damnit! It's never been a game. You of all people should know that"

"Not a game?" I can't help but scoff at that. "You lock 'em up, they make bail, then their back on the streets. It's just a glorified game of 'cops and robbers'! And until now, no ones had the guts to stop it once and for all."

"Jason…" His voice is dangerous, but I don't care anymore. I don't even want to hear what he has to say.

"…I'm not gonna be just the '_victim'_, Bruce" He's not used to his 'children' cutting him off, and the use of his name distracts him for a moment. Fortunately a moment's all I need, letting me take advantage of his lack of defence and aim a kick to his abdomen that sends his falling backwards, off the edge of the roof.

I know that he'll recover quickly enough, even though it _should _be a fatal fall from this height. It takes more than that to take down the Batman.

It's actually funny to think that I used to dream about being his partner. What ten year old boy _didn't _want to become 'Robin the boy wonder', and fight crime alongside the worlds greatest detective? Both Robins have turned their back on the bat now. True it wasn't exactly our choice: Dick was fired and I was killed… Quickly need to change my train of thought.

There's a new robin now and I bet he used to dream about this too, wonder how long _this _kid'll last.

I look over the side of the building and see no trace of Batman: no surprise there. I wonder whether I should try and follow him or let him come back up to me, we both know this isn't over yet.

The decision is taken out of my hands as someone lands on the roof behind me. I barely have time to turn around before my legs are swept from underneath me. _Damn I should have seen that coming!_

I look up to see a very smug looking Robin, already holding a set of handcuffs. We both know I'm not going to prison, at least not until they've taken me 'home' to try and talk me into seeing things their way again.

"That costume everything you ever dreamed of kid?" I ask, I swear I can see his eyes narrowing though the whitened out lenses in the mask. He's probably wondering why I haven't attacked him yet.

Truth be told I haven't got that much of a problem with this kid… anymore.

I just roll my eyes when he doesn't answer, he won't risk attacking me, afraid that _I'll _fall off the edge of the building. I smile beneath my helmet, as an idea comes to mind.

I push off against the floor, propelling myself backwards and sailing over the side of the roof. He shots a bat-line and manages to get it to wrap around my waist in mid-air. I'm already prepared for this, In one quick fluid movement my knife is out and cutting through the cable before it has a chance to go tight.

Robin stumbles backwards slightly as I fall downwards, managing to catch hold of a window ledge, I use the momentum to swing myself though the glass of the window below.

Robin follows a few moments later. "It's over, _Hood_!"

I place my knife back into its holster, I don't want this fight to be _too _easy. "I _wish _kid. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into have you?" And just like that I'm fighting _Robin_. I'm actually surprised at how good this kid is, at least I was replaced with someone who knows what their doing. "You actually trust Batman?"

"I'd trust him with my life." He snarls, blocking yet another one on my punches. I actually growl at his answer, this kid _won't _last long.

"Dangerous words kid. You always dreamed of being Robin too?" His reluctance to answer me only confirms my question "He's taking your dreams, and he'll tear you apart. Just like Dick. Just like me. 'Till your just the same. Robin's just someone for him to boss around, and mould into whatever the damn hell he wants him to be. You think he cares what happens to the kid _behind _that mask?"

"Shut up!" I think I struck a nerve. The kid manages to land a lucky shot to my jaw, cracking my helmet and sending me stumbling back towards the wall behind me.

Before I can recover I'm being shoved up against the wall, a pair of handcuffs locking around my wrists and I'm being pinned down with too much weight for it to be the kid.

"About time, didn't think you'd make it." I can practically hear the relief in Robin's voice.

"I can't come running every time you call." I groan realising who is holding me against the wall, recognising that all too familiar, joking voice. Only _Nightwing _would show up and sound that damn cheerful.

Quickly looking around the room I search for the exits. Only two, the window and a door on the other side of the room that looks locked.

_I've got no place to go, no where to run…_

"You actually gonna come home an talk to us today, Jay?" He sounds too damn cheerful.

"Piss off!" I hiss, letting him turn me around to face him.

As soon as my back's to the wall I start picking at the locks on the handcuffs.

"Why won't you let us help you?" Now that I can see his face I realise how concerned he looks.

"Funny how no one wanted to help me while I wore the cape. Admit it Grayson, you just love to watch me _fall_. " I spat out at him. Got to keep him distracted so he doesn't realise how quickly I'm working through the handcuffs. "You think you know it all? Just because you were the first kid the Batman picked up, that makes you the better than us?" I shoot a look at the kid and see that he's talking into an earpiece, probably telling Batman what's going on. _Dammnit _I have to work faster.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nightwing actually looks shocked, and kind of hurt by what I've said.

Finally feel the handcuffs snap open and answer him with a sharp punch in the gut.

As he doubles over I use his back to help propel me over to the kid. Tackling him to the ground and throwing his ear piece out of the window before he can tell Batman what's happening.

A sharp boot to my side sends me falling back to the ground, rolling into the fall and getting to my feet to face off against my 'brothers'.

Nightwing is breathing heavy, but he still recovered pretty quickly considering how winded he was a second a go and Robin is back on his feet.

"Two against one?" I reach up and unclasp my damaged helmet, dropping it to the floor a second later.

"You wear a mask _underneath_ your hood? Look like someone's a little insecure" Robin taunts.

I can't help by grin at his new technique. "Trying to anger me into making a mistake? Kid, I _invented_ that trick."

"Yet you _never _fall for that one do you?" Dick rolled his eyes sarcastically. I glare daggers at him, trying to force my self to stay calm so I don't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he's able to get under my skin.

Suddenly the room is full of smoke, and I wonder how the hell the kid got a chance to set a smoke bomb off with out me seeing it.

Somehow Nightwing finds me first, flying through the smoke like the god damn acrobat he's always been. The kid is only seconds behind him and instincts take over as the three of us move into battle like it's some sort of twisted well coordinated, dance.

Me and Nightwing are grappling, then Robin jumps into a flying tackle, I duck and watch the third Robin fly into the first. I don't give them time to recover before I'm back in the fight. An ax kick onto Robins back - misses as Nightwing rolls the both of them away, disappearing briefly into the weakening smoke.

"We could keep this up all night Grayson. My bet is the kid's the first to get tired out." I tease, laughing at the growl I hear from Robin: even though he _knows _that I'm just trying to get him angry it's still working, he should be able to land far more hit than he is right now. All three of us are probably going to be feeling these bruises for weeks.

I sent Grayson flying backwards into a wall but he doesn't even try to recover. At first I think he's knocked out, but then he grabs at Robins cape and the two of them stop and at stares towards me, an unsettlingly dark smile plays across the young robins face. _No! _Their not staring at me, something _behind_…Crap!

I know it's too late too stop him. I feel the sharp pain at the base of my neck even as I start to draw my knife. As I collapse to the floor I can just make out the familiar dark shadow looming over me before the darkness take over me completely.

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><p><strong>AN** How many of you actually know/can guess the song I used?


	2. A Nightmare

It's never good to wake up tied to a chair and drugged - especially with a dangerous life like mine - and… God, my head hurts! Guess I must have not been paying attention during patrol last night. My head is still fuzzy, but I'm starting to recognise the familiar feeling of one of the Bat-Cave's strong anaesthetics. My mask has been removed and the dim lights hurt my eyes too much for me to keep them open for long. I can't remember tensing but I suddenly find myself relaxing again. I can feel that someone, probably Alfred, is stitching up a deep cut on one of my outer thighs.

I shift slightly in the chair, feeling the straps rub uncomfortably against my chest. For a moment I wonder why I'm tied down instead of lying down on one of the medical beds. I guess there's a good reason though, so I just relax back into the chair when gentle hands encourage me to stay still.

"Broken ribs…" I murmur, just to make sure that they've noticed. My voice sounds weird. Deeper and somehow... darker. I assume it has something to do with the drug.

"I assure you master Jason, that they have already been taken care of. However, stitching your leg would be a lot easier if you would stay still." The old butler chides, and I answer him with a weak smile before the hands leave my shoulders.

"Guess I wasn't paying attention again, huh Al?" My heads still swimming but I can't remember what happened last night. After a few minutes of silence while Alfred finishes stitching my leg, I decide to just be blunt and ask. "What happened last night?"

"We brought you _home_."

"I didn't ask that." I can't help but smile as I hear Dick's voice. If he's here then Bruce won't give me another lecture about not paying attention. "Why aren't you with the Titans, Dick?" Even as I ask, it feels wrong - like I'm asking a stupid question and I should already know the answer… Suddenly a painful wave of dizziness spreads over me and I can't stop myself flinching as my body automatically tries to curl in on itself.

Someone quickly tilts my chin upwards and orders me to open my eyes. My sudden fit seems to subside so I force my eyes open a crack in the dim, but still uncomfortable, light and I see Dick looking concerned.

Something's wrong. He looks older than he should be, and his costume's different. Unfortunately, my unusually sensitive eyes are burning in the lights of the cave and snap shut before I can see much else.

Dick curses and I can feel him rushing across the cave to where the anti-toxins are kept. "Bruce, he's _high!_ He must have accidentally breathed in something from that drug raid last night. You _know _the anaesthetic is highly reactive! We should have tested…"

High? Guess that explains why my eyes are so sensitive: pupil dilation. Maybe that also explains why everything seems… off. Something keeps pulling at my subconscious, like a dream that's too important to forget about just because I've woken up. Or maybe this is the dream…

"There was no reason for us to suspect anything like that. We didn't even get a good look at the drugs until we knocked him out!"

I have no idea who that voice belongs to. He sounds like a kid, probably around sixteen years old. So, about my age? ...No… I'm older than that… Right?

Fuck, my head! "Hurts!" Another wave of pain-filled dizziness attacks, more powerful than the last, before it gives way to numb light headedness that masks the feel of Dick sliding the needle into my arm.

Suddenly I realised what the kid had said. 'We knocked him out.' _They _knocked me out? Why would Dick and Bruce knock me out? Did the drugs affect me somehow? Maybe it was like fear toxin or _Joker_… I'm not sure why, but just the thought of the Joker makes my blood run cold. That was probably it, Joker gas, that would also explain why I had to be tied down. But if that was the case then Dick would have known I was 'high', and he genuinely seemed scared when he realised just now…

I feel weak, and drained, but the next attack isn't as painful as the last one so I guess whatever was in that injection is working. I decide to try and distract myself from the pain by asking questions. "Who… who's the kid?" My eyes don't seem as sensitive so I slowly open them, carefully looking around for the unknown boy who obviously knew our identities.

Everything seems warped, like the drugs have caused a hallucination. There's Dick, in the unfamiliar costume and looking far older than he is - wait, just how old is he anyway? Argh, my head... Bruce is leaning against a pillar, talking to Alfred. The butler looks tired, far more aged than I recall, and Bruce's voice is too low for me to catch his words - is he trying to keep it down so I can't hear? What's so important that I can't be told about it? ...Is it to do with my condition?

Before I have time to think about that, I see the kid. I was right, he couldn't be older than sixteen, and his face seems strangely familiar, but I don't know why. _Weird_. He's wearing a black, angled domino mask, so… Hero or Villain? Judging by the bright colours I'd say Hero… The _very _bright, bold colours...

I can't help but stare at him in disbelief - _he's wearing the Robin costume! _

Has this punk replaced me or something? I've only been out for a few minutes… Right?... or maybe it's been hours... could it be days? Weeks?

...Months?

Oh God, what if it's years? Have I been in a coma or something? ...But then, why would I have broken ribs and a fresh leg wound? This doesn't make any sense!

If that kid is wearing my costume, what the hell am I wearing? I can feel that I'm not wearing a mask though, so am I in civilian clothes? I try to look down at my clothes but another wave of nausea hits me as I turn my head. Damn! It's impossible to move without putting myself in agony!

"What's going on?" I mutter, now struggling to stay conscious. I see a familiar red mask on one of the tables as the darkness closes in around the edges of my vision, and in the end I drift into an uneasy slumber. I hear that kid's voice as I fall asleep, and I briefly picture him as a cuckoo pushing a robin chick from its nest. I'm sure there's some kind of significance to the idea, but before I can work it out the world turns black and I fall into oblivion.

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><p>AN. It's only short but I did actually plan for a long chapter that, to be honest was nothing like this. Originally Jason just had one little confusing moment when he woke up an saw Alfred cleaning him up, not sure why/how that ended up with him being high… :/

No Lyrics in this chapter - they should be back in the next one though - same song as the first one.


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